Thera 50.1: Talaputa
Tipitaka >> Sutta Pitaka >> Khuddaka Nikaya >> Theragatha >> Thera(262):Talaputa Adapted from the Archaic Translation by Mrs. C.A.F. Rhys Davids. Note: 'C' in Pali text is pronounced as 'ch' as in 'China'. ---- Chapter XIX. Fifty Verses =262. Tālapuṭa= Reborn in this Buddha-age at Rājagaha in an actor's family, he acquired proficiency at theatres suited to clansmen,1 and became well known all over India as leader of a company of actors. With a company of five hundred women and with great dramatic splendour he attended festivals in village, township and royal residence, and won much fame and favour. Now when he had been giving performances at Rājagaha2 with his usual success, his ripening insight prompted him to visit the Lord(Buddha). And seated at one side, he said: 'I have heard it said, your reverence, by teachers and their teachers, when speaking of actors, that the actor who, on the stage, counterfeiting truth, amuses and delights his audience, will be reborn after death among the gods of laughter. What does the Exalted One(Buddha) say on this point?' Thrice the Exalted One rejected the question, saying: 'Ask me not of this, director.' But when asked the fourth time, ho said: 'Director, those persons who induce sensual, misanthropic, or mentally confused states in others and cause them to lose earnestness, will after death be reborn in hell. But if he thinks as you have heard, then his opinion is wrong. And the fate of one who thus holds wrong opinions is to be reborn either in hell, or as an animal.' Upon that Tālapuṭa wept. 'Said I not to 370 you, director, "Aek me not concerning this?"' 'Not for this reason, your reverence, do I weep, that the Exalted One has thus spoken concerning the future state, but because older actors have deceived me, saying that an actor holding a public performance is reborn in a happy life.' Then Talaputa listened to the Lord(Buddha)'s teaching, and receiving faith, was initiated into monkhood, and after due study won arahantship(enlightenment). Thereafter, showing in varied detail how he had restrained and chastened his heart to deeper understanding, he uttered these verses: ---- I. ---- 1091 Kadā nu'haɱ pabbatakandarāsu|| Ekākiyo addutiyo vihassaɱ|| Aniccato sabbabhavaɱ vipassaɱ|| Taɱ me idaɱ taɱ nu kadā bhavissati.|| || 1092 Kadā nu'haɱ bhinnapaṭandharo1 muni|| Kāsāvavattho amamo nirāso|| Rāgaɱ ca dosaɱ ca tatheva mohaɱ|| Hantvā sukhī pavanagato vihassaɱ.|| || 1093 Kadā aniccaɱ vadharoganīḷaɱ|| Kāyaɱ imaɱ maccujarāyupaddutaɱ|| Vipassamāno vītabhayo vihassaɱ|| Eko vane taɱ nu kadā bhavissati.|| || 1094 Kadā nu'haɱ bhayajananiɱ dukhāvahaɱ|| Taṇhālatā bahuvidhānuvattaniɱ|| Paññāmayaɱ tikhiṇamasiɱ gahetvā|| Chetvā vase tampi kadā bhavissati.|| || 1095 Kadā nu paññāmayamuggatejaɱ|| Satthaɱ isīnaɱ sahasādiyitvā|| Māraɱ sasenaɱ sahasā bhañjissaɱ|| Sīhāsane taɱ nu kadā bhavissati.|| || 1096 Kadā nu'haɱ sabbhisamāgamesu|| Diṭṭho bhave dhammagarūhi tādihi|| Yathāvadassīhi jitindriyehi|| Padhāniyo taɱ nu kadā bhavissati.|| || 1097 Kadā nu maɱ tandikhudā pipāsā|| Vātātapā kīṭasiriɱsapā vā|| Nabādhayissanti na taɱ giribbaje|| Atthatthiyaɱ taɱ nu kadā bhavissati.|| || 1098 Kadā 98 nu kho yaɱ viditaɱ mahesinā|| Cattāri saccāni sududdasāni|| Samāhitatto satimā agacchaɱ,|| Paññāya taɱ taɱ nu kadā bhavissati.|| || 1099 Kadā nu rūpe amite ca sadde|| Gandhe rase phusitabbe ca dhamme|| Ādittatohaɱ samathehi yutto|| Paññāya dakkhaɱ tadidaɱ kadā me.|| || 1100 Kadā nu'haɱ dubbacanena vutto|| Tato nimittaɱ vimano na hessaɱ|| Atho pasattho'pi tato nimittaɱ|| Tuṭṭho na hessaɱ tadidaɱ kadā me.|| || 1101 Kadā nu kaṭṭhe ca tiṇe latā ca|| Khandhe imehaɱ amite ca dhamme|| Ajjhattikāneva ca bāhirāni ca|| Samaɱ tuleyyaɱ tadidaɱ kadā me.|| || 1102 Kadā nu maɱ pāvusakālamegho|| Navena toyena sacīvaraɱ vane|| Isippayātamhi pathe vajantaɱ|| Ovassate taɱ nu kadā bhavissati.|| || 1103 Kadā mayūrassa sikhaṇḍino vane|| Dijassa sutvā girigabbhare rutaɱ|| Paccuṭṭhahitvā amatassa pattiyā|| Saɱcintiye taɱ nu kadā bhavissati.|| || 1104 Kadā nu gaŋgaɱ yamunaɱ sarassatiɱ|| Pātālakhittaɱ vaḷavāmukhaɱ ca|| Asajjamāno patareyyamiddhiyā|| Vibhīsanaɱ taɱ nu kadā bhavissati.|| || 1105 Kadā nu nāgo'va asaŋgacārī|| Padālaye kāmaguṇesu chandaɱ|| Nibbajjayaɱ sabbasubhaɱ nimittaɱ|| Jhāne yuto taɱ nu kadā bhavissati.|| || 1106 Kadā 99 iṇaṭṭo'va daḷiddako nidhiɱ|| Ārādhayitvā dhanikehi pīḷito|| Tuṭṭho bhavissaɱ adhigamma sāsanaɱ|| Mahesino taɱ nu kadā bhavissati.|| || ---- 1091 When shall I come to live in mountain caves, Now here, now there, unmated desire, And with the vision gained Into impermanence Of all that into being did become - Yes, this for me, even this, when shall it come to be?3 1092 O when shall I, who wear the patchwork dress, Be a true saint of yellow robe, Without a thought of what is 'mine'; And from all cravings purified, With lust and hate, yes, and illusions killed, So to the wild woods gone, in bliss be with? 1093 O when shall I, who see and know that this My person,4 nest of dying and disease, Oppressed by age and death, Is all impermanent, Live free from fear lonely within the woods - Yes, when shall these things be? 371 1094 O when shall I with insight's whetted sword Have cut it down, this creeper of Desire,5 With all its tendrils twining far and strong, Breeder of many fears, Bearer of pain and woe - Yes, even this! when shall it come to be? 1095 O when shall I have power to draw the blade Of insight, fiery splendour of the Saints, And swiftly shatter Mara(deathlord/devil) and his host, While in the victor's posture seated still -6 Yes, when shall these things come to be? 1096 O when may I in pious companies Be seen among all such as hold the Path(Dhamma) In reverence, given to noble toil With them who see the heart of things, With masters over sense - Yes, when shall these things come to be? 1097 O when will slackness, hunger, thirst, No more distress me, nor the wind, the heat, Insects and creeping things wreak harm on him. Who on the Fastness of the Crag7 Did mind his own high needs - Yes, when shall this thing come to be? 1098 O when shall I with thought composed -, intent, And clarity of insight come to touch That which the mighty Seer understood - The Four, the Ariyan Truths, So passing difficult to see - Yes, even this, when shall this come to be? 372 1099 O when shall I, yoked to the avenues of calm. With deeper vision see the things of sense Innumerable - sights and sounds, Odours and tastes and tangibles, And all the inner objects of the mind As things ablaze and burning -8 Yes, when comes this for me? 1100 O when shall I be unmoved - Because of speech abusive not downcast, Nor when, again, my praise is sung, Be fillöd with complacency -9 When comes this for me? 1101 O when as so much firewood, bindweed, straw, Shall I esteem the factors of my life,10 With all the countless, objects known by sense,11 Internal or without, Judging them all alike - impermanent12 - yes, this for me, () when? 1102 O when will above my head The purple storm-cloud of the rains, And with fresh torrents drench my clothing in the woods, In which I walk my way Along the Path the Seers have trod before - Yes, when shall this thing come to be? 1103 O when shall I, hearing the call adown the woods Of crested, twice-born13 peacock I lie At rest within the bosom of the hill, Arise and summon thought and will To win the Ambrosial - Yes, when shall this come to be? 1104 O when shall I, by spiritual powers, become awakened, Cross over Gangā, Yamunā,14 Saraswtī Unsinking, yes, float over the awful mouth Of hell-flung ocean waters - Yes, when shall this come to be? 1105 O when, like elephant in battle charging, Shall I break through desire for joys of sense, And to rapt meditation given, Shun all the marks of outward loveliness - Yes, when shall these things come to be? 1106 O when, like some insolvent poor pressed discovering hidden store, Shall I be filled with joy, In that I have attained The of the mighty Lord(Buddha)'s Rule? Yes, when shall this thing come to be? ---- II.15 ---- 1107 Bahūni vassāni tayāmhi yācito|| Āgāravāsena alaɱ nu te idaɱ|| Taɱ dāni maɱ pabbajitaɱ samānaɱ|| Kiɱkāraṇā citta tuvaɱ na yuñjasi.|| || 1108 Nanu ahaɱ citta tayāmhi yācito|| Giribbaje citrachadā vihaŋgamā|| Mahindaghosatthantābhigajjino|| Te taɱ ramissanti vanamhi jhāyinaɱ.|| || 1109 Kulamhi mitte ca piye ca ñātake|| Khiḍḍāratiɱ kāmaguṇaɱ ca loke|| Sabbaɱ pahāya imamajjhapāgato|| Atho'pi tvaɱ citta na mayha tussasi.|| || 1110 Mameva etaɱ na hi tvaɱ paresaɱ|| Sannāhakāle paridevitena kiɱ|| Sabbaɱ idaɱ calamiti pekkhamāno|| Abhinikkhamiɱ amatapadaɱ jigīsaɱ.|| || 1111 Suyuttavādī dvipadānamuttamo|| Mahābhisakko naradammasārathi|| Cittaɱ calaɱ makkaṭasannibhaɱ iti|| Avītarāgena sudunnivārayaɱ.|| || 1112 Kāmā hi citrā madhurā manoramā|| Aviddasu yattha sitā puthujjanā|| Te dukkhamicchanti punabbhavesino|| Cittena nītā niraye nirākatā.|| || 1113 Mayūrakoñcābhirutamhi kānane|| Dīpīhi vyagghehi purakkhato vasaɱ|| Kāye apekkhaɱ jaha mā virādhaya|| Itissu maɱ citta pure niyuñjasi.|| || 1114 Bhāvehi 100 jhānāni ca inidriyāni|| Balāni bojjhaŋgasamādhibhāvanā|| Tisso ca vijjā phusa buddhasāsane|| Itissu maɱ citta pure niyuñjasi.|| || 1115 Bhāvehi maggaɱ amatassa pattiyā|| Niyyānikaɱ sabbadukhakkhayogadhaɱ|| Aṭṭhaŋgikaɱ sabbakilesasodhanaɱ|| Itissu maɱ citta pure niyuñjasi.|| || 1116 Dukkhanti khandhe paṭipassa yoniso|| Yato ca dukkhaɱ samudeti taɱ jaha|| Idheva dukkhassa karohi antaɱ|| Itissu maɱ citta pure niyuñjasi.|| || 1117 Aniccaɱ dukkhanti vipassa yoniso|| Suññaɱ anattāti aghaɱ vadhanti ca|| Manovicāre uparundha cetaso|| Itissu maɱ citta pure niyuñjasi.|| || 1118 Muṇḍo virūpo abhisāpamāgato|| Kapālahatthova kulesu bhikkhasu|| Yuñjassu satthuvacane mahesino|| Itissu maɱ citta pure niyuñjasi.|| || 1119 Susaɱvutatto visikhantare caraɱ|| Kulesu kāmesu asaŋgamānaso|| Cando yathā dosinapuṇṇamāsiyā|| Itissu maɱ citta pure niyuñjasi.|| || 1120 Āraññiko hohi ca piṇaḍapātiko|| Sosāniko hohi ca paɱsukūliko|| Nesajjiko hohi sadā dhute rato|| Itissu maɱ citta pure niyuñjasi.|| || 1121 Ropetva rukkhāni yathā phalesī|| Mūle taruɱ chettu tameva icchasi|| Tathūpamaɱ cittamidaɱ karosi|| Yaɱ maɱ aniccamhi cale niyuñjasi.|| || 1122 Arūpa dūraŋgama ekacāri|| Na te karissaɱ vacanaɱ idānihaɱ|| Dukkhā hi kāmā kaṭukā mahabbhayā|| Nibbānamevābhimano carissaɱ.|| || 1123 Nāhaɱ alakkhyā ahirikkatāya3 vā|| Na cittahetū na ca dūrakantanā|| Ājīvahetū ca ahaɱ na nikkhamiɱ|| Kato ca te citta paṭissavo mayā.|| || 1124 Appicchatā sappurisehi vaṇṇitā|| Makkhappahānaɱ vūpasamo dukhassa|| Itissu 101 maɱ citta tadā niyuñjasi|| Idāki tvaɱ gacchasi pubbaciṇṇaɱ.|| || 1125 Taṇhā avijjā ca piyāppiyañca|| Subhāni rūpāni sukhā ca vedanā|| Manāpiyā kāmaguṇa ca vantā|| Vante ahaɱ āvamituɱ na ussahe.|| || 1126 Sabbattha te citta vaco kataɱ mayā|| Bahūsu jātīsu na mesi kopito|| Ajjhattasambhavo kataññutāya te|| Dukkhe ciraɱ saɱsaritaɱ tayā kate.|| || 1127 Tvaññeva no citta karosi brāhmaṇo|| Tvaɱ khattiyo rājadasī karosi|| Vessā ca suddā ca bhavāma ekadā|| Devattanaɱ vā'pi taveva vāhasā.|| || 1128 Tave'va hetū asurā bhavāmase|| Tvaɱmūlakaɱ nerayikā bhavāmase|| Atho tiracchānagatā'pi ekadā|| Petattanaɱ vā'pi tave'va vāhasā.|| || 1129 Nanu dubbhissasi maɱ punappunaɱ|| Muhuɱ muhuɱ cāraṇīkaɱ'va dassayaɱ|| Ummattakeneva mayā palobhasi|| Kiñcā'pi te citta virādhitaɱ mayā.|| || 1130 Idaɱ pure cittamacāri cārikaɱ|| Yenicchakaɱ yatthakāmaɱ yathāsukhaɱ|| Tadajjahaɱ niggahessāmi yoniso|| Hatthippabhinnaɱ viya aŋkusaggaho.|| || 1131 Satthā ca me lokamimaɱ adhiṭṭhahi|| Aniccato addhuvato asārato,|| Pakkhanda maɱ citta jinassa sāsane|| Tārehi oghā mahatā1 suduttarā.|| || 1132 Na te idaɱ citta yathā purāṇakaɱ|| Nāhaɱ alaɱ tuyhavase nivattituɱ,|| Mahesino pabbajitomhi sāsane|| Na mādisā honti vināsadhārino.|| || 1133 Nagā 102 samuddā saritā vasundharā|| Disā catasso vidisā adho divā,|| Sabbe aniccā tibhavā upaddutā|| Kuhiɱ gato citta sukhaɱ ramissasi.|| || 1134 Dhitipparaɱ kiɱ mama citta kāhisi|| Na te alaɱ citta vasānuvattako,|| Na jātu bhastaɱ ubhatomukhaɱ chupe|| Dhiratthu pūraɱ nava sotasandaniɱ.|| || 1135 Varāhaeṇeyya vigāḷhasevite|| Pabbhārakūṭe pakate'va sundare,|| Navambunā pāvusasittakānane|| Tahiɱ guhāgehagato ramissasi.|| || 1136 Sunīlagīvā susikhā supekhuṇā|| Sucittapattacchadanā vihaŋgamā,|| Suvañjughosatthanitābhigajjino|| Te taɱ ramissanti vanamhi jhāyinaɱ.|| || 1137 Vuṭṭhamhi deve caturaŋgule tiṇe|| Saɱpupphite meghanibhamhi kānane,|| Nagantare viṭapisamo sayissaɱ|| Taɱ me mudū hehiti tūlasannibhaɱ.|| || 1138 Tathā tu kassāmi yathā'pi issaro|| Yaɱ labbhati tena'pi hotu me alaɱ,|| Na tāhaɱ kassāmi8 yathā atandito|| Biḷārabhastaɱ'va yathā sumadditaɱ.|| || 1139 Tathā tu kassāmi yathā'pi issaro|| Yaɱ labbhati tena'pi hotu me alaɱ,|| Viriyena taɱ mayha vasānayissaɱ|| Gajaɱ'va mattaɱ kusalaŋkusaggaho.|| || 1140 Tayā sudantena avaṭṭhitena1 hi|| Hayena yoggācariyo'va ujjunā,|| Pahomi maggaɱ paṭipajjituɱ sivaɱ|| Cittānurakkhīhi sadā nisevitaɱ.|| || 1141 Ārammaṇe 103 taɱ balasā nibandhisaɱ|| Nāgaɱ'va thambhamhi daḷhāya rajjuyā,|| Taɱ me suguttaɱ satiyā subhāvitaɱ|| Anissitaɱ sabbabhavesu hehisi.|| || 1142 Paññāya chetvā vipathānusārinaɱ|| Yogena niggayha pathe nivesiya,|| Disuvā samudayaɱ vibhavaɱ ca sambhavaɱ|| Dāyādako hehisi aggavādino.|| || 1143 Catubbipallāsavasaɱ adhiṭṭhitaɱ|| Gāmaṇḍalaɱ'va parinesi citta maɱ,|| Nūna saññojanabandhanacchidaɱ|| Saɱsevase kāruṇikaɱ mahāmuniɱ.|| || 1144 Migo yathā seri sucittakānane|| Rammaɱ giriɱ pāvusaabbhamāliniɱ,|| Anākule tattha nage ramissaɱ|| Asaɱsayaɱ citta parābhavissasi.|| || 1145 Ye tuyaha chandena vasena vattino|| Narā ca nārī ca anubhenti yaɱ sukhaɱ,|| Aviddasū māravasānuvattino|| Bhavābhanandī tava citta sāvakā'ti.|| || ---- 1107 It is many years since you, my heart, did urge: 'Come now, enough of this house-life for you!' See then! I have left the world(for monkhood). For what reason, O heart, Do you lack devotion to your task? 374 1108 Have I not, O my heart, been urged by you: 'On Fastness of the Crag Bright-plumaged passengers of air, Greeting great Indra's thunder with their cries, Do give him joy who ponders in the wood.16 1109 In social circle friends beloved and kin, The joys of games, of art, delights of sense Ail have I put away to come to this. Well then, O heart, are you not pleased with me? 1110 it was only for myself I acted thus, For no one else I this sacrifice. Why then lament when comes the time to arm? This life is all a-quake! - so I saw.17 And I renounced the world and chose the Ambrosial Way. 1111 has he not said - who says all things well, The best of beings,18 great Physician, Tamer and driver of the sons of men - Unsteady is the heart like jigging ape,19 So hardly may that heart, With passions not overcome, be held in check. 1112 For varied, sweet, entrancing are desires of sense, In which the ignorant majority Entangled lie. They do but wish for sorrow Who seek to live again, Led by their heart to perish in the Pit. 375 1113 'There in the jungle ringing with the cries Of peacock and of heron will you live, By panthers and by tigers owned as chief.20 And for your body thrown off care; Miss not your hour, your aim!'21 So were you wont, my heart, to urge on me. 1114 'Create, develop22 you the Ecstasies(trance/samadhi), The fivefold moral Forces and the Powers, The seven Wings of Wisdom And the four Grades of concentrated will;23 Touch you the Triple Wisdom Within the Buddha's Rule': - So you wont, my heart, to urge on me. 1115 'Create, develop in your life the Path By which you mayest win Ambrosia - The way of progress and egress, Founded upon the ending of all sorrow, Eightfold, cleaning from all that did defile': - So you wont, my heart, to urge on me. 1116 'This mind and body should you scrutinize And hold as "sorrow"; and all the source of sorrow Do you put far from you; Yes, here and now make you an end of sorrow! - So you wont, my heart, to urge on me. 1117 'And understand that transiency is sorrow, Is empty, not of self, is bane and bale; Restrain your mind's discursive vagrancies': - So you wont, my heart, to urge on me. Apostrophized. Meaning to shorten. Here to exist without his prior fame and fortune. "He's missed out on the householder's enjoyment..." ITI 91 376 1118 'Shaven headed, unsightly, and apostrophized24 When come for alms, with skull-like bowl in hand25 Among the citizens, Do you now give yourself Wholly to carry out the Lord(Buddha)'s Word, the Seer's - So you wont, my heart, to Urge on me. 1119 'Walk you well-disciplined within the streets, With mind unchained by the sense-desires Of them that live in that. Be like the moon a fortnight old in cloudless sky:'26 - So you wont, my heart, to urge on me. 1120 'He who in forest lives and lives by alms, Who moves in the field of death(cemetries), wears patchwork robe, Refrains from lying down,27 He ever finds the true ascetic joy': - So you wont, my heart to urge on me. 1121 'As one who, having planted trees, seeks fruit, Do you now, finding none, desire to cut Your tree down at the root?' - Such was the parable you made, my heart, When you the unstable and the impermanent Did urge on me. 1122 you unseen thing that knows from afar,28 Rising in single file, no more your word Will I obey. For your sense-born desires Lead but to woe, to bitter fruit, to brooding fear. From now on toward Nibbāna's peace alone I'll set my face and walk. 377 1123 I did not leave the world(for monkhood) when out of luck, Nor as a shameless joke, nor from a whim, Nor was I banished in disgrace, Nor seeking livelihood, When I did give consent, my heart, to you. 1124 'Good men do praise small needs and much content, Yes, and renouncing of hypocrisy, And the healing of all pain': - Thus did you, O my heart, teach me then. Now you go back to all your former loves. 1125 Craving and ignorance and loves and hates, And things of beauty, all the pleasant thrills And charm of sensuous joys: - these have I vomited, Nor may I strive to come once more to things thus spurned. 1126 Wherever my life has fallen, O my heart, Your word have I obeyed. In many births you have not been upset with me. And this is all your gratitude: - This individual worldly self, With all the suffering done by you Was down for long, long æons of my life. 378 1127 It is you, O heart, do make us what we are. You make, we become. A brahmin(priest) now, Then are we nobles, yes, a king, a seer,29 Aristocrat one day, and servant the next are we, Or even a deity - and all In virtue of your agency alone; 1128 Through you alone have we been Asuras, You working, have we been through hellish doom; Again, one day, in realm of beasts reborn, Or Petas, by your agency alone. 1129 no now, you shall not dupe me as of old Time after time, again, ever again, Like charlatan showing his little play;30 You playest guileful tricks with me, As with a lunatic.31 Tell me, my heart, in which am I at fault? 1130 Once roamed this heart a-field, a wanderer, Wherever will or whim or pleasure led. To-day that heart I'll hold in thorough check, As trainer's hook the savage elephant.32 1131 To me the Lord(Buddha) did insist33: - this world Was transient, temporal, without a self. Now, have heart, leap forward in the Conqueror's Rule, And bear me over the great fearful floods.34 1132 For you, O heart, things are not as of yore.35 it will not suffice that I within your power Fall back to live once more. 379 Gone forth(into monkhood) am I under the Great Lord(Buddha)'s Rule. Men such as I now am no forfeit will endure. 1133 Mountains and seas, the rivers, earth itself, The quarters four, the intervening points, The nadir, yes, and all the heavens above36: - Three planes of being37 each impermanent And all of them forlorn - Where can you then, my heart, find ease and rest? 1134 Since I have the goal so firm, so sure, O heart,38 What will you do make me turn? No more be it mine, my heart, to follow you. None, in good sense, would touch a bag That opened at both ends. Repulsive! then, On that full thingbody flowing with issues from nineopenings .39 1135 O will love the life, be it on the crest Of caverned cliffs, where herd boar and gazelle, Or in fair open glade, or in the depths Of forest freshened by new rain - it is there Lies joy for you to cavern-cottage gone.40 1136 Fair-plumed, fair-crested passengers of air With deep blue throats and many-hued of wing, Give greeting to the muttering thundercloud With cries melodious, manifold; it is they Will give you joy whiles you are meditating there. 380 1137 And when the god rains on the four-inch grass,41 And on the cloud-like crests of budding woods, Within the mountain's heart I'll seated be Immobile as a lopped-off bough,42 and soft As cotton down my rocky couch shall seem. 1138 Thus will I do even as a Master should. Whatever is got, be it enough for me. And like a tireless tanner dressing hides,43 I'll make you soft as catskin finely dressed. 1139 Thus will I do even as a master should. Whatever is got, be it enough for me. I'll lead you in my power by force of will,44 Like a fierce elephant by skilled mahout. 1140 With you at length well tamed and firm grown, Like trainer with a horse well removed of vice, Then can I walk on the Path of happy fate, wanted by them whose hearts are guarded well. 1141 And to the object you should think upon I'll bind you by the power that training gives, As elephant by strong cord bound to post. So when I have you guarded well, and trained By clarity of thought, you shall become Unleaning on all forms of future life. 1142 When by the aid of insight you bast dammed Your errant course, by study have restrained, 381 Turned it along the avenue truth,45 So you can see how all things do become: - Rise into being and are then dispersed - Then shall you be the and heir of Him: Knower and Teacher of the Things Supreme. 1143 On the fourfold hallucination set,46 As village lout did drive me, O my heart.47 Come now and follow him, the Merciful, Great Seer for whom all bonds and chains are broke. 1144 Like creature of the wild roaming at large In the fair flowering jungle, so you too Have gone up on the lovely cloud-wreathed crest. There on the mountain, where no crowd can come, Shall find your joy, O heart, for never doubt But you shall surely win to the Beyond.48 1145 They who remain subservient to your will, Male or female, enjoy what you do give, Delight in ever coming back to be: - Unknowing, in the wake of Māra's(deathlord/devil) power, These all, O heart, retainers are of you.49 ---- 1 Kulānurūpesu naccaṭṭhānesu. 2 Nagaravasīnaŋ samajjaŋ dassetvāā. 3 The metre of the text is Triṣṭubh throughout. In trying to reproduce the wistful yearning of the opening, I have had the 'Choric Song' of Tennyson's 'Lotus-Eaters' in mind. Ekākiyo = ekeko. 4 Kāyo, literally, group, including not body only, but the mental groups (Commentary). 'Nest': cf. Itivuttaka, Ī 43. 5 Taṇhā-latā. A favourite simile in the Canon. Cf. verse 761. 6 The whole line is implicit In the word sīhāsane 'in 'he lion's seat,' or 'on a throne.' Commentary: thirāsane aparājitapallanke. 7 Giribbaja. See CCXXXIV., 545, n. 8 Cf. Sitters, verses 200, 351. The Commentary, in sampling the 'things of sense,' specifies, among 'inner objects,' things as pleasant and as painful; but they include also concrete perceptions (as distinct from each mode of sensation), images, ideas, etc. 9 This was a great step for one of Tālapuṭa's are to surmount. 10 Khandhe. 11 Dhamme. Commentary: rūpadhamme. 12 Aniccaāivasena c'eva asārādi-upamānavasena (Commentary). 13 Dvija a generic name for oviparous creatures, 'born of the mother and of an egg' (Commentary). 14 Cf. p. 159. See also Additions, etc. 15 'Now, having shown the course of his thoughts before he renounoed the world, he, being in the Monk’s order, shows in what ways he addressed his heart so as to attain' (Commentary). 16 I.e., to study (Commentary). 17 Cf. Sisters, p. 188, verses 200, 201. 18 Lit., of bipeds. Cf. Sisters, verse 432. Dr. Neumann cites one other instance: Epigraphia indica, iii., p. 3131, 6. 19 See Ps. CXXIII. 20 Because of the exercise of universal love' vihāratāya (Commentary). 21 Mā virādhaya is the text in the Commentary, and the comment mā virādhehi, 'miss not this moment so hard to win.' Cf. verse 403. 22 For bhāvehi the Commentary gives 'cause to arise, make to grow.' 23 The numbers are given in the Commentary. The last refer to the four Iddhipādas. Cf. Compendium, p. 180, d, e, f, c, and above, verse 437. 24 Dhammapāla, reading also abhisāpam-āgato, refers to Itvuttaka, Ī 91. His Commentary on that work has abhlāpo ti akkoso. 25 Cf. p. 113, n. 1. 26 Cf. verse 306. 27 Cf. verse 856. 28 Cf. Dh'pada, ver. 37; Comy., i. 304. The latter work is largely in literal agreement with our Commentary on this and the next phrase. Consciousness has no visible properties, and cannot move in space the width of a spider's thread, but knows its object without such contact. Again, it is a series of units of mental life arising singly. 'Two, three consciousnesses do not arise together. One ceases, another rises.' It is just possible that what the Pali suggests to us - 'You formless, lonely traveller afar! - may be nearer what Tālapuṭa meant than the psychological interpretation of the scholastics. Nevertheless, when the lines elsewhere suggest romance to the latter, they do not stifle it. Anyway, the characteristic Buddhist difference is interesting. 29 In (king)rāja''-d-isi'' the d'' is inserted to link the two words (Cy.). Additions etc. "V and c are often confused not only in Singhalese, but also in Burmese, on palm-leaf. In ''Sutta-Nipāta, verse 162 f., between ''-cāraṇo'' and ''-vāraṇo'' Fausböll chose the former. What, then, is a cāraṇikaŋ? The Commentary itself is obscure: abhinhako carakārahaŋ viya mano-dassento carakārahaŋ purisaŋ tantaŋ-bhavaŋ dassento. I should be glad to have light thrown on carakārahaŋ and tantaŋ-bhavaŋ. In Sanskrit cāraṇo is a strolling player, hence my rendering. If correct, it is a very likely simile for one with Tālapuṭa's traditional antecedents to have used. 30 Reading cāraṇikaŋ. See Additions, etc. 31 Cf. verse 931; JPTS, 1889, p. 203. 32 See LXXVII., p. 76. 33 Adhiṭṭhāhi, an uncommon use of this word. 34 Of Saŋsāra (Commentary). 35 Cf. verses 126, 280. 36 Disā ti devalokā (Commentary). 37 Cf. verse 1089. 38 The Commentary reads: Dhitipparan ti dhiti-parāyanaŋ paraŋ maŋ thirabhāve ṭhitaŋ ... maŋ cāletuŋ na sakkhissasī ti attho. This seems preferable to reading 'repulsive!' again here, and repulsive!' again in the same gāthā. 39 Reading with the Commentary ubhato. This otherwise unintelligible line then falls into its place in quaint but pointed contrast to the figure of the body. Cf. verses 279, 1151. 40 An attempt to reproduce the Pali alliteration - guhāgehagato. 41 'Resembling a crimson blanket' (Commentary) reminds us of our clover-fields. 42 Lit., 'like a log without appurtenances' (Commentary). Cf. LXII. 43 Cf. this simile in Majjh. Nik., i. 128. The Commentary rends, for taŋ taŋ karissāmṁ, nahanta-kassāmi. 44 Viriyena. 45 Pathe is paraphrased by vipassanāvīthiyaŋ. 46 I.e., holding the impermanent as permanent, and the ugly (asubhaŋ), the painful, the selfless, as beautiful, pleasant, and having a self respectively. The last illusion, in the Br. MS. Comy. is either worded unusually - attani attā ti ('in one's 'self' a 'soul'), or the scribe has omitted the an from anattani ('in the soul-less a soul'). 47 Gāmaṇḍalaŋ. The Commentary first reads gāmandalaŋ, then, in commenting, gāmantalaŋ, but explains this to mean gāmandarakaŋ - 'my good heart, you drag (parikaḍḍhasi) me around, here and there as if I were a (stupid) village-boy.' Dr. Neumann reads for gā, go. 48 Lit.: 'You shall beyond-become, look down upon or become superior to.' Commentary: 'You shall stand firm by the ruin of (thy) saŋsara.' 49 The last verse, as well as 1143, would fit better if placed a little further back in the poem. ----